


Nighthawks

by Anchovyson



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Bullying, Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin is only mentioned not much interaction, M/M, Slow Burn, Some awkward short chapters, Taeyong is only a year older than Mark, awkward school prefect Mark, i'll add as i go - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-16
Updated: 2019-01-22
Packaged: 2019-08-24 11:46:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16639451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anchovyson/pseuds/Anchovyson
Summary: Everyday Donghyuck walks through the school gate without his school hat, even though the school prefects checks their uniforms at the gate. In one odd day, he was about to enter the gate but she was stopped by an older boy, Mark, who was a school prefect. Things start to have a different turn from there.(Title based on Yonezu Kenshi’s song of the same name. Lyrics: http://vgperson.com/lyrics.php?song=nighthawks)





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I hope you are having a nice time.  
> I'm actually new here and it's my first time writing a fan fic for something! I'm really excited!  
> Just a disclaimer that English is my second language and also I'm kind of writing this to improve my English so my language or descriptive imagery might not make sense... And also I kind of wrote this in a heat of a moment so I might not finish writing it although I'm thinking of making this into 10-20 (?) chapters long.  
> If you're ok with these things, I hope you enjoy!

Teenage boys and girls, with their overly swollen backpacks, were ambling across the wide concrete road, towards where they are obligated to go. Their navy dark uniform darkened the tone of the street as they gathered along. On their heads, was a hat, that was made of light brown, cheapy plastic straw with a navy ribbon wrapped around the middle that the whole street was filled with floating brown discs.

In the midst of the ocean of brown hats, there was a reddish-brown patch, which was the head of a boy, Donghyuck. He wore a navy uniform like everyone else, but it was somewhat discoloured that he stood out from the stream of students. His hair was slightly curled, like a Selkirk rex cat, and his fringe nearly touched his long, black eyelashes. He stood out of the crowd, lonely, like a falling autumn tree in a spring garden, but his eyes that were closed halfway proved that this was a regular occurrence.

As Donghyuck passively moved with the flow of students, he lifted his gaze from the ground to the school gate, and there was a boy, who he didn’t recognise, standing politely next to the gate, having both hands held together at the front. In Donghyuck’s school, the school prefects needed to check student’s uniforms every morning at the school gates. Donghyuck has always felt a sense of pity and swore to himself he would never become a school prefect for his own good. He nonchalantly attempted to walk past the gate, like a bird that crosses the street when a vehicle is approaching, but the voice from behind called him.

“Um, e-excuse me”. There was a sense of hesitation embedded in his tone.

“Yes?” Donghyuck casually turned around towards the owner of the voice.

The person who spoke him was the boy that was standing beside the gate. His height was nearly the same as Donghyuck, but slightly taller, and his dark, black hair that was trimmed short on the back of his head contrasted with his white pale skin. His round back eyes matched with his hair and it held a hint of innocence. _Typical prefect_ Donghyuck thought. The boy had a gold prefect badge on his navy blazer, which the fabric seemed to be fairly new to Donghyuck’s, with black capital letters saying ‘Mark’.

The boy’s eyes swayed awkwardly as he nibbled his bottom lip. “Ah um… I think you already know but can you wear your hat please?”. His eyes caught Donghyuck’s but quickly went back to the ground as he breathed out a nervous chuckle.

A frown spared across Donghyuck’s forehead. He couldn’t believe what has a boy said to him. _Don’t tell me he doesn’t know about that_ Donghyuck thought. He searched for a sign of contempt form the boy, but the way he fiddled his button on the blazar and anxiously pressed his lips together in straight, did not help him with the search at all.

The boy uncomfortably tilted his head slightly and made wrinkles between his eyebrows as Donghyuck was scanning every feature of the boy. “U-um is there something on my face?” he questioned, lifting the corner of his mouth into an anxious smile.

Donghyuck quickly moved his line of sight form the boy’s fidgety hands to his eyes. “No, you don’t and I’m very sorry, but I don’t have my hat with me today. Thank you for reminding though”. He replied, quickly, that it created a feeling of sarcasm in his sentence. Before he could even see the boy’s reaction, Donghyuck lurched forward and strode into the school ground. The whole situation that unfolded before Donghyuck was too awkward for his already complicated life to bother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope my descriptive imagery made and my horrible grammar made sense?  
> Just in case it didn't, both Mark and Donghyuck's appearance is inspired by their looks from the We Go Up era. Their uniforms are kind of like that too.  
> I'm sorry that this chapter was so short! I feel like the notes were longer than the actual chapter... If there are any tags you think I should add or some grammatical errors, please tell me in the comments!


	2. Semi-Transparent Boy (part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello it's me again!  
> Thank you very much for all the Kudos on the previous chapter even though it was a really short one! (Although this one is even shorter...)  
> I was thinking of posting this after I wrote more 'cause the plot is not really going anywhere at the moment but seeing the Kudos from you gave me courage!  
> Do everyone prefer to have frequent short updates or not so frequent but longer chapters? Please tell me in the comments!  
> Also, if there is any descriptive imager that didn't make sense, just tell me (if you are bothered enough about this fic) so I can explain it to you!

―

As Donghyuck stepped into the school grounds, he noticed the crowd of students having their faces near each other’s ears, whispering and exchanging uncomfortable glances. Donghyuck moved his eyes to the ground and let out a long sigh onto the dry, grey concrete. Seems like the previous incident had been categorised as the hottest topic of the day even though it is still 8 o'clock in the morning. The plan of not getting attention from anyone had failed instantly by one ignorant school prefect.

He recalled how the boy’s eyes moved in an uncomfortable gesture as he spoke up to Donghyuck. The way he acted towards Donghyuck was nothing like what the other students did. His attitude also felt odd considering the fact that he was a prefect. He wasn’t ‘prefect-like’ (if that’s even a word) at all, especially for this school. He seemed more – vulnerable – like Sakura tree petals falling down in a blow of wind.

Donghyuck arrived at the rubbish pit which was stacked up with dozens of black plastic bags, reflecting the sunlight that shone over Donghyuck’s head. Donghyuck scrunched his nose as the scent of decomposing outdated cheese touched his nose. He felt an impulse on the spine urging him to run off from the disgusting smell, but he reached out to one of the bags that appeared to have a unique shape – almost diagonal than spherical. He already knew what he was about to discover.

Donghyuck grabbed the diagonal end of the bag with his tortilla-brown tanned hands, each holding the opposite ends of it. He pulled the hands away from each other, fighting the resistance caused by the elasticity.

‘Pop’. A small exploding sound was created as the interior of the bag started to appear before Donghyuck’s eyes, through the ragged patch of the bag. An edge of light brown straw hat popped out of the opening, no longer maintaining the circular shape but rather a biconcave shape. Donghyuck pinched the edge of the hat while he pressed the side of the bag with his other hand to release the hat from the tight chamber of food waste and drink cans. As Donghyuck observed the hat, stained with red and brown, he discovered a writing inside the worn-out label. ‘Lee Donghyuck’. Donghyuck made another count to the weekly sigh count and stuffed the hat back into the bag. There was no value left in the hat that any decent person would be willing to keep. Donghyuck dragged himself away from the rubbish pit, rubbing his hands on the pale, navy uniform shorts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry there wasn't much plot to this chapter...


	3. Semi-Transparent Boy (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update! I tried to make this chapter a long one and obviously I'm a slow writer so it took me a hundred years.   
> The school the boys goes to is supposed to be Korean high school but I might not be accurate on some stuff 'cause I haven't watched much K-dramas and stuff...  
> Thank you very much for supporting me with the Kudos! It really motivates me to write when I'm banging my head on the desk from the lack of vocab I have!

―

The sounds of chatter and laughter from the classrooms was echoing across the school hallway. The hallway still contained the moisture and the distinctive heat of summer that floated around the atmosphere, choking Donghyuck as a drip of water run down from his forehead. It was early September, but yet the hotness that is supposed to be long gone was still present and it created another reason for Donghyuck to hate life.

Donghyuck clutched the cold, silver metal dip of the milk-white sliding classroom door and pressed it towards his left as it made a rattling sound. When the entry to the classroom widened, the same outdated cheese scent that he felt at the rubbish pit struck up Donghyuck’s nostrils. The room that was once filled with flowering conversation and laughter fell silent, like a water that has drained into the sewage.

Donghyuck ignored the whispers or the looks that were fixed on him from the classmates and walked towards his desk that was located the far edge of the classroom, right beside the window. The nauseous scent became increasingly strong as he walked forward, growing a certain suspicion in Donghyuck’s mind.

Donghyuck dug his hands into the desk and felt something that was moist, almost slimy, but elastic. A tickling sensation of disgust travelled through his arms and Donghyuck quickly jerked away. There were enough eyes looking at him previously, but now almost every member of the class changed their line of sight to Donghyuck.

Donghyuck tentatively squinted inside the desk. There, he saw a pile of food waste stacked and crammed in an unorderly fashion that it almost made Donghyuck believe that he is, in fact, looking into a general waste bin and not his own desk. What he has touched previously seemed like it was a half-eaten apple which was full of wrinkles, not holding any fresh whiteness at all, that sat nearly at the end of the interior. Donghyuck rolled his eyes and stretched his arms into the desk and held the contents under his arms. The blue cheese that was in the pile pressed against his body and stained the blazer white hat contrasted with the navy. He strode off the classroom as he heard a small gasp from one of the students.

―

The day went smoothly after that, if you ignored the looks and the exchanging whispers that was towards Donghyuck. The students were released from the long hours of daydreaming and finally the much-awaited lunchtime has arrived. Donghyuck was now walking into the school gym which echoed with the squeaking sound as his sneakers created a friction with the polished gym floor. He held a thin, square plastic CD album under his right elbow, like a student who stole something from a corner store.

In the far back of the gym, there was a stage that was about twenty-five feet tall and wide as much as it can fit the gym that it created a sense of oppression whenever Donghyuck entered the room. It was enveloped by the tick wine red curtain that hang heavily to the stage floor like a waterfall.

Donghyuck placed the CD and his hands on the stage floor. He lifted himself up so that he was climbing to the stage and crawled under the curtain that weighed heavily on his back while he clutched the CD again. The curtain flopped back down, shutting off the entry of the stage.

Inside the stage was pitch black, as the curtain absorbed all the sunlight that shun from the outside, but Donghyuck knew exactly which path to take. He walked towards the back of the stage and his left hand brushed onto a thin, cold cylindrical metal that trailed diagonally above. He laid his hand on that pole and took the step on the stairs beside it, taking each step cautiously so that he won’t get his legs caught on one of the staircases.

After about fifteen steps, Donghyuck has arrived at the end to the staircases and he was now standing in front of a door, with a round metal knob that touched Donghyuck’s stomach. He slid his left hand into his inner blazer pocket, near his heart, and took out a small metal key. Donghyuck pierced the key into the hole on the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed the door open with his left hand, as the creaking sound of the door echoed to the silent stage.

The room Donghyuck entered was an audio room that was about the size of four bathroom cubicles compressed together with various audio equipment was left in the front of the window that looked over the whole gym. Donghyuck flicked the light switch on with his index finger and the fluorescent bulb on the sealing blinked a couple of times until it revealed the small, white plastic desk in the middle of the room. He grabbed one of the chairs under the desk and sat down, placing the CD on the table. Donghyuck closed his eyes while he rested his chin on his crossed palms, enjoying the silence that he longed for since the day started and also searching for the sound footsteps that were about to approach the room.

―

As expected, the thumping sound started to rebound from the bottom and Donghyuck felt the corner of his lips tugging upwards. When the sound became very apparent, the door creaked once again and a boy with short reddish brown hair, just like Donghyuck, appeared as he greeted Donghyuck with a bright smile that thinned his round, black eyes. The room’s heavy atmosphere has blown out the door when the door opened and was replaced by the boy’s cheerfulness.

“Hey Donghyuck!” The boy exclaimed, still maintaining the smile that he had before. He shut the door behind him and sat on the chair opposite to Donghyuck.

“Hey Renjun. What’s up?”. Donghyuck replied, raising his right hand in acknowledgement. He felt his stomach softly warm up for the first time in the day.

Renjun was a childhood friend of Donghyuck since primary school and they never lost contact with each other more than a few days that it was almost second nature for Donghyuck to be talking to Renjun every day. Even now, they would meet secretly in this small audio room just talking about the horrible daily events.

“So, what’s the album of the week? Son of a music nerd?”. Renjun leaned down closer to Donghyuck, resting his chin on his left palm with a mischievous smile.

Donghyuck’s face almost automatically spared widely, exposing his teeth. “You like to call me by that name, don’t you?”. He said, sliding the CD towards Renjun. “It’s a J-rock album so I’m not 100% sure if the translation is right but it’s called A Loser Doesn't Need an Encore apparently. According to dad”.

Renjun stretched over to grab the CD with his pale hands and brought it over to his face, observing every angle of it. His mouth was in agape. “Wow… Your dad is seriously a music geek… he even listens to J-rock?”. He said.

Donghyuck let out a small laugh at the exaggerated reaction of Renjun. “Yeah I know right. The amount of CD he keeps in our house scares me”. He stood up from the chair and culched the CD from Renjun’s hands, walking towards the CD player left at the corner of the room, almost forgotten. Donghyuck carefully opened the CD case, making sure he wouldn’t create any cracks and held the edges of the CD disk delicately while he placed it into the player. The room was silent, that Donghyuck could hear the voices of students from the outside oval and he felt Renjun’s eyes watching every movement of him. The goofy atmosphere that was prevalent a moment ago was long gone, replaced by the still, but tense tranquillity.

A small sound of Renjun breathing in reached Donghyuck’s ears and Renjun spoke up. “So um… How’s the _stuff_ that going with you?”.

Donghyuck pressed the play button on the CD player and faced back to Renjun. He was facing Donghyuck, crossing his arms on the top of the seatback and resting his chin on it. His brows were lowered and his round, black eyes were looking up at Donghyuck, nearly apologetically. Donghyuck noticed the stain on his blazer that was created while he was putting away the rubbish. The soft sound of the CD intro track was playing in the background.

“Just as usual. Nothing different. They really love wasting their precious time, don’t they?”. Donghyuck replied, without looking at Renjun’s concerned face and went back to his chair. Renjun shifted back to face Donghyuck. Donghyuck started to feel the awkwardness travelling through the room and it reminded him of the incident that happened in the morning. “Actually, today, some guy came up and tell me to wear a hat”. Donghyuck said, looking at the ceiling.

Renjun narrowed his eyebrows. “What? You mean like in a mocking way?”. He asked.

“No not really… He seemed like hid didn’t know? It was really awkward when I didn’t take his request seriously”. Donghyuck answered as he frowned, recalling the event in the morning.

Renjun tilted his head. “Do you know his name?”

“Yeah, I saw his prefect nametag. I think it was Mark?”

“Describe him”. Renjun’s narrowed eyes were looking far away as though he was searching this mysterious boy from the internal library in the brain.

“He has like big round black eyes like a puppy and black hair that is cut around the back of his head… Oh and he’s nearly my height”.

“Was he cute?”. 

Donghyuck glared straight to Renjun as he deepened his frown. Renjun was rising one of his eyebrows suggestively, a smirk spreading on his face. The soft sound of the piano music has stopped, and the upbeat sound of the guitar was now playing. Donghyuck moved his eyes diagonal to Renjun and let out another sigh which he has done many times today already, accepting his defeat. “Fine. Yes, he was”.

Renjun widened his eyes and let out a small whistle. “I know who he is! He’s Mark Lee and he came at the start of this term form Canada. I’ve heard so much rumours about him ‘cause he’s really popular with any gender”. He was looking at Donghyuck roguishly the whole time that Donghyuck’s hands twitched with the urge to pinch Renjun’s cheek to get rid of that look.

“You didn’t need the last information I said did you?”. Donghyuck said, rolling his eyes in the air.

“Hey, the last time we talked about other guys was when we were in middle school man! Let me enjoy this for a moment!”. Renjun protested, while he waved his hands up and down.

“Fine. But how can a transfer student become a prefect?”.

“Who knows. I mean, if you’re rich at this school anything’s possible”.

“Yeah true. Well, it’s my turn to harass you now”. Donghyuck said, tugging his mouth upwards into a smirk. “How’s stuff going with Jaemin?”

The mention of that name made a flush of pink appear on Renjun’s pale cheeks.

Jaemin, in full name Na Jaemin, is a boy who is in the same class as Renjun. His soft smile that displays the neatly lined white teeth and his high excellence from academics to sports, has won many student’s hearts that he is one of the most popular guys at this school full of rich kids. The afterschool dancing club that he attends to, is always filled with people, trying to get attention and catch a glimpse of him.

Renjun’s eyes shifted away from Donghyuck. His mouth was shut into a straight line, almost completely straight.

“Hey, come on! I haven’t heard about this for a week now!”. Donghyuck said, mimicking Renjun’s tone of voice when he protested. Donghyuck cloud almost see a steam fuming out of Renjun’s face, from how red it was.

“Fine! Fine! Fine! I will tell you! Gosh, you’re so -never mind”. Renjun yelled, sighing at the end. “I don’t know… I sometimes catch me staring at me during class… When I’m about to stare at… him”. He mumbled, in a subtle tone, looking down at the desk.

“What? Sorry, I couldn’t really pick up”. Donghyuck cupped his right hand to his ears and leaned forward towards Renjun.

“Gosh, I know you heard me! Anyway, I have to leave now… so see you tomorrow!”. Renjun said in a frustrated voice, while he looked up at the clock on the wall desperately. It was ten minutes before the lunch break ends. He stood up quickly from his chair, making a rattling sound and stumbled across the room and held the doorknob. “And I’m not leaving because I’m embarrassed!”. He said, without looking at Donghyuck and quickly closed the door behind him. The thumping sound of Renjun going down the stairs gradually faded away. Donghyuck waited few minutes after the sound has completely disappeared, and left the room to return to class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The album CD lowkey motivated me to write this fic...


	4. Semi-Transparent Boy (part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quicker update this time! But a shorter chapter... I wrote this in a rush so my descriptive imagery might be really bad... And finally, there is an interaction between Mark and Hyuck again (although not much on this chapter either) after a really long chapter. I'll promise there will be more in the future so please stick around! Thank you very much for all the Kudos!

―

Donghyuck, exposing his red hair without the school hat, steadily trudged towards the school gate. The morning breeze swept away from the sky and rattled the green tree leaves on the street beside the students that were walking in the same direction as Donghyuck. They didn’t even glance at him – like he was a transparent being and bumped passed Donghyuck that it made him wobble to the left, stumbling his legs. Another student then squeezed passed him to the left and forced Donghyuck to stand upright again. Donghyuck sighed with relief and readjusted his slanted backpack, looking up towards the gate.

There he saw the same, dark, black haired boy he saw the day before, crossing his hands at the front, awkwardly standing beside the gate.

Donghyuck’s creased his temple. _Why is he even here?_ Donghyuck thought. You never see the same school prefect doing morning duties every day. It is usually every week or they just skips to have a longer sleep-in that all students are desperate for.

The boy’s brows were narrowed with his eyes moving around, searching something in the crowd. His eyes seemed like it was looking far away, but looking close to him at the same time that almost seemed he was being possessed by something. Unexpectedly, the boy’s eyes caught Donghyuck at his sight. The boy’s eyebrows raised up, as he opened his mouth slightly, like a child who has seen something that they were not supposed to see. Donghyuck startled, instantaneously raising his shoulders. He quickly moved the gaze to the ground, lifted his backpack to adjust once again. He didn't even know why he was bothered by this school prefect when he has always seen them in front of the school gates.

Even though he didn’t want to, he eventually arrived in front of the gate. Of course, the boy is now beside him, staring with closed lips somewhat stuck out, almost like a pout. Donghyuck looked up at the boy and their eyes met once again.

“Um hi… Again”. The boy murmured, lifting his right hand beside his right chin into a clumsy wave, as if it was his first time waving to a person. “I think I told you yesterday but… Where’s your hat?”. In contrast to what he said, his tone was closer to the tone people use when they are asking a favour, rather than a demanding tone that is usually associated with people in higher power. 

Donghyuck blinked for a second and let his words sink into his brain. His breath became shaky. Irritation started to grow more than a surprise to the fact that the boy still didn’t know about Donghyuck’s situation.

“You shouldn’t be bothering me”. Donghyuck said, in a voice that was so quiet that he wasn’t even completely sure what he has said.

“Um sorry…I couldn’t really catch on that?”. The boy said, uneasily.

Looking at the boy’s clueless eyes made Donghyuck feel his blood travelling up the body to his face. The irritation that grew within him has developed in an increasing amount that he felt like someone was squeezing around his temporal lobe from both sides. Donghyuck pulled out a poker face for the attempt to calm himself down, his eyes dozed off, in a similar way to a dead fish.

Donghyuck left the boy with the confused look without replying to his question.

―


	5. Semi-Transparent Boy (part 4)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time no see everyone! (Sorry that I left everyone with another short awkward Markhyuck encounter chapter for a month...) I hope everyone had a nice holiday and a happy new year!  
> I managed to write a longer chapter this time and make the plot move a little forward!

―

 

Donghyuck entered the audio room, closing the door slowly, making sure it is completely shut. His white uniform shirt stuck heavily against his skin from the wetness, that he almost felt like his clothes were pulling him to the ground. Water bucket set at the classroom door especially for him has fallen down on him in the morning. He sat at the usual chair and waited for his friend’s thumping footsteps to approach.

Donghyuck stated to hear a sound from the school gym stage and felt his mouth tugging upwards, but that expression was interrupted as soon as he noticed the difference in the sound. The footsteps didn’t hold the sense of lightness that it usually has, and it was almost gloomy, like the person was forcefully being obligated to climb up the staircases.

Donghyuck stood up from the chair, tilting his head to the left. He slowly walked towards the door. The sound of the footsteps was nothing like what he has heard before, that it made his heart beat in an unsettling manner. He stared at the door cautiously, like a spectator of a sporting match as the sound increased in loudness. He felt his heart knocking against his body.

The last sound of the footsteps reached Donghyuck’s ears. Before he could prepare himself for the worst outcome, the door creaked and revealed the owner of the footsteps.

It was Renjun.

Donghyuck was about to fall to the knees due to the sudden release from extreme tension, but the way Renjun moved his eyes away from him when their eyes met, and the way he’s still clutching the doorknob nervously, suggested Donghyuck that the situation is not fitting to do so.

Renjun’s eyes were now on the ground, his mouth held in a straight line that it reminded Donghyuck of the first encounter with the prefect boy who’s every gesture seemed apologetic. The situation that he never encountered with Renjun made Donghyuck’s area near the stomach stir up as he started to suspect the prime cause.

Renjun forcefully opened his mouth, eyes still at the floor. “Donghyuck, I – “.

Donghyuck walked quickly towards Renjun and grabbed his shoulder. Renjun’s body lurched backwards from the force. “Don’t tell me that they stated bothering you too!”. He forcefully shook Renjun’s shoulders and let his eyes meet with his own.

Renjun widened his eyes, shaking his head violently. “Huh? No! It’s nothing like that!”. He stepped away from Donghyuck’s arms and crossed his fingers as he returned his gaze to the ground, like a child who is about to confess an evil deed to a parent. “It’s just… Um… Jaemin… confessed to me”. His voice sounded as though he was speaking from the back of his throat.

A moment of silence filled the room. Donghyuck looked at Renjun vacantly until his brain cells finally managed to process the information.

Donghyuck moved his hand to his face and covered his mouth that was now in agape. “Wow… Seriously!?”. He said, looking at Renjun’s hot red face.

Renjun stiffly nodded. “Yeah… He whispered in my ears… yesterday lunch after I came back to the classroom from here”.

“The confession was a whisper!? Wow smooth guy!”. Donghyuck exclaimed.

Renjun quickly looked back to Donghyuck, flapping his hand beside his face like a fan. “No no! He just told me to see him at the music room this morning, so I went…”.

“And then…?”.

Renjun covered his face with both of his hands. “He looked into my eyes… oh god this is embarrassing he wrapped both of his hands onto mine and… he said, ‘Can I ask you to be my boyfriend…?’ like I would say no! I was about to die from a heart attack!”. His voice was muffled from the embarrassment and frustration.

Donghyuck scrunched his nose and brought his hands up to his chest dramatically. “Gosh, you’re now making me embarrassed! What did you reply?”.

“I said… yes…”. Renjun said, dropping his hands to his sides, tugging his lips upwards.

Donghyuck brought his arms over his head and clenched his fist. “Yes! Congrats! My childhood friend now has a goddamn boyfriend after 6 months of pining!”.

“Shut up! I had priorities!”. Renjun exposed his rosed cheeks and snapped back at Donghyuck.

“Why are we even standing here? We need to have a celebration! Take a seat!”. Donghyuck smiled, pulling the chair that Renjun usually sits out of the table.

“U-m… about that…”. Renjun stammered, hesitantly. “Jaemin wants to spend time with me at lunch…”.

Donghyuck stopped his hand from pulling the chair. “Oh”. He blurted out, unexpectedly. He finally understood the awkward gesture Renjun was making at the start and he felt a sense of discouragement.

“Sorry Donghyuck I haven’t even helped you with the whole situation and I know I’m being really selfish… Slap me or whatever if that makes you happy”. Renjun said in a hurry while he desperately looked up at Donghyuck.

“Hey hey hey it’s fine. It was me that told you not to do anything. Go to Jaemin, he must be waiting for you”. Donghyuck said, soothingly.

“Are you sure?”. Renjun lowered his brows in a sorrowful manner.

“Yeah go on. I’m not a child I’m fine alone”. Donghyuck pulled a smile while he patted Renjun’s shoulders.

Renjun gazed at Donghyuck, like a scientist making an observation for their experiment. By the time Donghyuck felt awkward, Renjun said, “Okay… But I’ll send you texts ok!” In a breathy voice.

“Okay! Enjoy your love life child!”.

Renjun smiled wryly at Donghyuck’s words. “See you then!”. He held the handrail of the stairs and walked down the stairs. He quickly melted into the darkness of the stage. He was excited to be with his boyfriend after all.

Donghyuck couldn’t really see where Renjun was, but he waved towards the darkness anyways. He heard a sound of fabric scraping against each other as the middle of the stage curtain raised up. He saw the silhouette of Renjun backlit from the light outside waving at him and soon disappeared to the other side of the curtain. We’re it’s bright.

Donghyuck let out a long breath as he closed the door behind. He finally slid the chair that he pulled out for Renjun under the desk.

I’m officially a loner now, Donghyuck thought. The wet uniform stuck against him suddenly felt so cold that his stomach tightened. He killed the sensation of something welling up his throat by stressing his mimic muscles as he slowly took his seat on the floor at the corner of the room. He let out his shaky breath as he thought, this is how it should be. This is how it should be. It was supposed to happen eventually.

He wasn’t supposed to interact with Renjun since he joined this school. He was a different being. Renjun, the boy who had friends, crush, a ‘high school life’ and there was Donghyuck who had nothing at all other than the fact that he was bullied. Donghyuck always thought Renjun was dignified, paired indelibly in colour for which ‘yearning’ is not a strong enough word. They lived in different worlds and it was a matter of time until they separated.

Donghyuck felt his throat swell up, and that pile escaped his mouth in the form of a sob. The warmth around his eyes spilled out and dripped on his cheeks. Since day 1, He acted as though this was nothing. He thought even a hint of a painful look will give them what they want. But sometimes, in a minor case, it is just, just hard for him to handle. He hears someone inside his head crying out desperately to be expressed. The voice being sick of being treated as a transparent being and as the most eye-catching being at the same time. The voice seeking transparency.

Donghyuck brought his knees up to his chin while he looked up at the clock on the wall. It was not long until the end of lunch. Donghyuck dropped his eyelids and sank into his knees. He was not bothered to attend the next class with his classmates whispering about his swelled red eyes.

―

 

Donghyuck slowly regained his consciousness, like a wrecked ship being washed up on the shore. He lifted up his chin while he winced at the tingling pain that travelled down the neck. The clock was now pointing at the time long past after school and his singing lesson. He could see the orange light of the setting sun shining on the gymnasium floor from the window.

Donghyuck stood up from the cold floor, in front of the CD player. He pressed the open button softly, feeling the button gradually sinking down. The white CD appeared on the disk tray, while the buzzing sound quietly reached Donghyuck’s ears.

Donghyuck removed the CD from the tray and put it back into the case. There was no reason for the CD to be remaining in this room anymore. He left the room, double checking that he has locked it completely.

―

 

The sky was in a darker orange by the time Donghyuck arrived at his classroom. Not a single person was in the hallway and the area was completely silent that it almost felt like Donghyuck’s breath could echo.

Donghyuck opened the classroom door that was now grey from the shade. As the space displaying the classroom widened, the door made a comfortable rattling sound.

As he peered inside, he witnessed a boy with lowered brows, trailing his gaze to the ground. Black hair, pale skin, round eyes.

It was that prefect boy again. The boy’s eyes shot up at Donghyuck as soon as he registered the sound of the door. A sigh escaped his mouth while it parted into a smile full of relief while he discovers the owner of the sound. Dongyhuck has never seen anyone smile like that to him, that it made his forehead wrinkle in confusion. The feeling he felt of his head being squeezed started to come since his encounter with the boy in the morning.

“Thank god! I was starting to think that you already left! ”. The prefect boy – Mark exclaimed. His voice sounded less awkward than the morning, holding a more casual tone.

Donghyuck walked towards his desk, where the boy is. He kept about half a meter of distance between Mark and said, “Why are you here?”, like a police questioning a criminal.

Mark quickly closed his mouth into a thin line and directed his eyes away from Donghyuck, somewhere beside him. “Um… I was told by the head prefect to give this to you”. His words were quieter again and ambivalent like he was before.

Donghyuck already knew what Mark was going to give him. It happened a few months ago, but the giver was different. “You mean Taeyong hyung?”. Donghyuck blurted out, annoyingly that it made Mark’s shoulder jerk upwards, eyes widened in surprise.

“Y-yeah wait why are you-“.

Donghyuck cut Mark off. “Well tell him that I don’t need another hat because it’s meaningless”. He grabbed his school bag which hanged on his desk and walked towards the door. “Oh. And also give this back to him ‘cause I don’t need it anymore”. He threw the key for the audio room over his shoulder, to Mark.

Mark quickly lunged and cupped one of his hand out from his reflexes. As soon as he felt the cold metal on his hand, the door was shut with a thump. The plastic wrapper on the school hat crackling in Mark’s hands was the only sound that was now present in the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't explained Hyuck's 'situation' much yet and if it's confusing you, I will try to make it clear on the next chapter.   
> Thank you very much for all the Kudos you guys have given me. It gives me great joy to write this!


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